New Bridge Complete on A83025 Apr 2018

Criche Bridge fully opened to traffic on the Road to the Isles

The newly built Criche Bridge has opened to traffic along the scenic A830 following ten months of construction.

The bridge is the sixth structure to be replaced on the route in the past four years following a commitment from Transport Scotland to improve road safety.

The new bridge, located approximately eight miles west of Glenfinnan, was constructed using stone from the old bridge incorporated into the new design to ensure the bridge was in keeping with its scenic surroundings.

A disused masonry arch bridge, adjacent to the carriageway, was demolished as part of the works to allow for the wider new structure. The stone from the old bridge was also used to construct a new bat habitat for the bats displaced from the demolition, helping to ensure the project had minimal impact on the environment and surrounding wildlife.

The newly built structure and approaches provides a wider carriageway and verges, improved alignment and stronger parapets. Its low maintenance design will help ensure the structure continues to function safely for years to come and help future-proof this vital arterial link.

Criche Bridge follows on from works completed at Dearg Bridge in December 2014, Utha and Garbh Bridges at the end of 2015 and also Arieniskill and Ranochan Bridges in early 2017.

Commenting on the opening of Criche Bridge, Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland’s North West Representative said: “We are pleased to fully open the newly built Criche Bridge, which marks the sixth A830 structure to be completed in our bridge replacement programme.

“As with the previous bridges, we’ve made sure to limit any impact to motorists as much as possible by constructing a temporary bridge to ensure access on the A830 was maintained at all times.

“We also recycled some of the stone from the old bridge into the new design to make sure it fits in with the surrounding area.

“We hope the local community will be pleased with the new bridge at Criche, and we thank them for their patience over the last ten months.”

Design is underway for the next bridge in the programme following the completion of Criche, with construction programmed to begin at Shlatach Rail Bridge in Glenfinnan towards the end of 2018.